Showing posts with label Homemade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homemade. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Homemade zucchini chocolate chip muffins (gluten, egg, nut, dairy-free)



Our zucchini plants are really starting to produce a lot of zucchinis (it's amazing how big a zucchini can get in a couple days)! I've been roasting or sauteeing zucchini for Jesse on day #2 of our rotation diet, as well as freezing grated zucchini for future baking days. This zucchini muffin recipe uses 4 cups of grated zucchini for 24 muffins, so it is a perfect recipe to use up some zucchini before it goes bad (and my four year old, who refuses to eat roasted/sauteed zucchini, devoured these). And, of course, giving away zucchini to friends and neighbors is another fun way to bless others and not waste the fruit of your labors!

Homemade zucchini chocolate chip muffins (gluten, egg, nut, dairy-free)
Yields 24 muffins

3 cups rice flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
4 eggs (or use flax seed substitute for 4 eggs)
1 cup safflower oil (or other preferred oil)
4 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. 
3. Make your egg substitute if using flax seed. In another bowl, combine egg and oil.
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just moistened.
5. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips (can also use cranberries, raisins, or walnuts)
6. Coat muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners. Fill three-fourths with batter and bake for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Monday, July 1, 2013

Easy Homemade Laundry Detergent!

Homemade Laundry Sauce!

Not only is this laundry "sauce" fun to make (and play with), but it is also a frugal, quality laundry detergent using 3 main ingredients: Borax, Washing Soda, & Fels Naptha. A friend of mine shared the recipe with me, found at the blog, Budget 101. I basically followed her same directions, except for a few modifications. Thanks to a tip from the lady at Ace Hardware, I heated the Fels Naptha bar in the microwave for 30 seconds before grating it, which made it a lot easier to grate. And my blender did not fit the lid of my mason jar like Budget101's, so I simply scooped the detergent into the blender and then blended.

1 C Washing Soda, 1 C Borax, 1 Bar Fels Naptha (not pictured)... Easy peasy. Excuse the messy counter tops, that's how I roll.

Fels Naptha, grated.

Mixed the Borax and Washing Soda.
 
Melted the Fels Naptha in 4 cups of water, stirring for 10 minutes.

Added the Borax/Soda mixture to Fels Naptha liquid and stirred 3 minutes until dissolved, then poured evenly into two 1-quart mason jars.

Added water, leaving 1 1/2 inch headspace at top, then put the lids on and let the jars sit UPSIDE DOWN for 4 hours (this is important, but I'm not sure why).

Looking a little shady after 4 hours....

Scooped the mixture out of my jars, one at a time, and blended it for a minute.

Look at the awesome paste it forms, so cool.

Voila! 2 jars full of laundry sauce... use 1 tablespoon per load of laundry! This lasts for about 128 loads.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Homemade Fourth of July Birthday Decorations!




My little boy, David, is turning 1 on the Fourth of July! We are having a family party and I'm in the process of getting ready for it. Here are some homemade table centerpieces I made yesterday, inspired by an idea from Better Homes & Gardens with the paper rockets. I paid a dollar for the star garland from the Dollar Tree and the rest were materials I had on hand.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

More homemade bird wall art!


I created some more bird wall art for my daughter's up and coming big girl bedroom! This owl art was recycled from my extra large mother's day card from Jesse and the kids. Besides the price for the card, I had all the other materials on hand. Plus, this way, I don't have to throw out my card as it now has a nice new facelift.

On Mother's Day with my enormous card! :)

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Homemade bird wall art... and free!


We're about to finish a bedroom in our basement, which will become a big girl bedroom for our daughter (so baby can move out of our room finally and into the nursery)! Anna had a bird-themed nursery, but now she is getting a more mature bird-themed big girl room. I made this wall art for her room using old kitchen cabinet doors from my brother-in-law's home (free... yay!) and some retro bird wall art that use to belong to my husband's grandmother (she was a teacher and these were part of her teaching collection). This only cost me a couple hours of time and I used art supplies that I already had on hand!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The BEST stain remover... plus it's easy and frugal!




I had my doubts... but no more! This is the BEST stain remover that I've ever used. We're talking years old dried-on stains, from ink to baby spit up and poop to arm pit stains to only God knows what else. I had a huge box of clothes with stains that I wanted to try to revive before this weekend's garage sale. Mostly all of the stained clothes are now in excellent, sellable condition! All you need are three easy, cheap ingredients and a tooth brush for scrubbing (if you want):

2 part Hydrogen Peroxide
1 part Dawn (the blue kind)
1/2 part Baking Soda

Mix, spray or pour on stain, rub it in, and let sit for 1-3 hours. Then wash and VOILA! You will be amazed (these following pictures do not do the stains or the final product justice)!

Ink stain.

Doing its thing.

Rubbed in.

Washed, dried, and NO stains!
Some kind of marker stains.

BOOM.